Electron Microscopy

Moving or scanning a sustained beam of electrons on the surface of a sample causes the beam to interact with the atoms of the sample. The process generates several types of detectable signals which can be used to visualize the sample as well as understand the composition of the sample. Scanning electron microscopy can visualize samples with sizes of centimeters down to sub-micrometers. Field emission scanning electron microscopy is useful for visualizing samples as small as the nanometer scale. Scanning transmission and transmission electron microscopy are useful for inspection of samples at the nanometer and sub-nanometer scale. All our electron microscopy instruments have attached X-ray spectroscopy instrumentation for elemental analysis, such as energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers.